The word “church” comes from the Greek “kirk,” which means “house of God.”
In my conversations with fellow members of kiitsu kyokai, it came to my attention that in English, “Church” (with a capital letter) is used differently from “church” (with a small letter). The capital Church is heavily Christian and religious. It often is used to refer to “God’s chosen universal body of believers,” which is always often Christian. Meanwhile, the small letter church refers to a place of worship.
According to Celia, a non-church approach to spirituality believes in the gathering and not the place. For example, early Quakers gathered in hills. We belong to each other; not to a church.
Having and maintaining a place of gathering affects a community’s spiritual practice.
Unsorted
Kyokai
Church = community spaces where we get teachings You need to make your own kyokai (he can’t practice that in other places). It doesn’t matter if there is no two or three of you.
To do
- Connect here the non-church movement in Japan.
- Connect here discussion on the problems of translating kyōkai into English.
- Add here reflections from how church was used by Imaoka in his Principles of Living.
- Connect here Andrew’s blog post “Garden Congregationalism.”